Miso – A Gugak Musical

My husband and I celebrated a late anniversary with a fun trip to see Miso at the Jeongdong Theater, which is just down the street from Deoksugung Palace in downtown Seoul.

From the show’s website:

“MISO (Baebijang-jeon): A Satirical Novel Representative of the Joseon Dynasty – The fateful encounter of Secretary Bae, an official that we can’t help but love, and Ae-rang, a beautiful woman who is proud and clever.” Never-mind that they are both married to someone else!

The show is a comedy performed with traditional Korean music, instruments, costumes, and dances. It was a very enjoyable performance, complete with subtitles and text in English for the brief singing portions. Most of the performance is dance oriented, without speech or verbal song.

The costumes were beautiful. Even the theater’s ushers and ticket agents dressed in traditional attire. The theater was intimate, with a “pit” area for the orchestra. Though my picture is a bit dark, you can see that there are a variety of Korean instruments present – janggu, gayageum, a gong, and the piri, to name a few.

Afterwards, the cast assembled in the lobby for a meet and greet picture opportunity, and much of the audience took advantage of the time to sit for pictures.

Show information:

Hours/Days Of Operation: Open Run 4pm/8pm (Closed on Mondays) – 80 minutes long